Dust Emission from Gobi under Different Dust Content Conditions: A Wind Tunnel Study atop the Mogao Grottoes

• Published in: Atmosphere 2021-11, Vol.12 (11), p.1498
• Main Authors: Liang, Linhao, Zhang, Weimin, Tan, Lihai, Chen, Shuyi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosols; Atmospheric aerosols; Atmospheric particulates; Deserts; Dust; Dust content; Dust emission; Dust storms; Emission analysis; Emissions; Experiments; Friction; Global aerosols; Gobi; Mogao Grottoes; Murals; Particle size; Particulate emissions; Particulate matter; Particulate matter emissions; PM10; Research methodology; Suspended particulate matter; Velocity; vertical emission flux; Wind forces; Wind pressure; Wind speed; wind tunnel; Wind tunnel testing; Wind tunnels
• ISSN: 2073-4433; 2073-4433
• DOI: 10.3390/atmos12111498

Dust emission from the Gobi desert is one of the major sources of global atmospheric aerosols. However, the main factors affecting dust emission from Gobi remain poorly understood. In this paper, field wind tunnel experiments were performed atop the Mogao Grottoes to determine the variation characteristics of the vertical dust flux (F) of particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM10) for Gobi surfaces with different dust content and wind speeds under external sand supply. The results demonstrate that F obeyed a power function with increasing friction velocity (U*), and increased exponentially with the increasing surface dust content (C). The index of n-value in the formula F∝U*n is taken in the range of 2.02–2.63 under the surface of 27.3–47.3% dust content (